Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 07/26/2005, uploaded on 01/23/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Franz Liszt and Italy

"The beautiful in this special land became evident to me in its purest and most sublime form. Art in all its splendor disclosed itself to my eyes. It revealed its universality and unity to me. Day by day my feelings and thoughts gave me a better insight into the hidden relationship that unites all works of genius. Raphael and Michelangelo increased my understanding of Mozart and Beethoven; Giovanni Pisano, Fra Beato, and Il Francia explained Allegri, Marcello and Palestrina to me. Titian and Rossini appeared to me like twin stars shining with the same light. The Colosseum and the Campo Santo are not as foreign as one thinks to the Eroica Symphony and the Requiem. Dante has found his pictorial expression in Orcagna and Michelangelo, and someday perhaps he will find his musical expression in the Beethoven of the future."

Liszt's words are a clear example of his love for Italy. In his later years, during the period that eminent scholar Alan Walker calls "a threefold life," when Liszt divided his time among Rome, Weimar and Budapest, Rome was always a special, spiritual place for Liszt, a devout Catholic. Today's recital is dedicated to Italy as a source of inspiration in Liszt's piano works, and covers a wide range of his artistic output.

La Campanella,  No. 3 in g-sharp minor from Grandes Etudes de Paganini

Paganini made a strong impression on Liszt in 1832, after which Liszt decided to accomplish at the piano what Paganini could accomplish at the violin. Among the first results of that decision were the Etudes d'execution transcendante après Paganini, written in 1838 and dedicated to Clara Schumann. In those études, Liszt used themes from Paganini's Capprici for violin solo and the famous theme from the 3rd movement of Paganini's b minor violin concerto, an old Italian melody called La Campanella.  Liszt later revised the cycle and published it in 1851 (under the new name Grandes Etudes de Paganini). La Campanella is the third étude in that collection and the version that will be performed today is from the 1851 revised cycle.         Alexandre Dossin

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.